Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei down 4.25 %, Shanghai Composite fell 1.10 %, Hang Seng lost 1.85 %, ASX 200 declined 1.70 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1094 (+0.70 %), Silver at $14.10 (-0.35 %), WTI Oil at $30.52 (+0.15 %), Brent Oil at $29.99 (-0.65 %)
- Rates: US 10 year yield at 2.07, UK 10 year yield at 1.74, German 10 year yield at 0.50
News & Data:
- Australia Full Time Employment Change (Dec): 17.6K (prev 41.6K)
- Part Time Employment Change (Dec): -18.5K (prev 29.7K)
- Australia Employment Change (Dec): -1.0K (exp -10.0K prev 71.4K)
- Australia Unemployment Rate (Dec) 5.8 % (exp 5.9 %, prev 5.8 %)
- Japan PPI (MoM) Nov: -0.3% (exp -0.4% prev -0.1%)
- Japan PPI (YoY) Nov: -3.4% (exp -3.5% prev -3.6%)
- Japan Machine Orders (MoM) Nov: -14.4% (exp -7.3% prev 10.7%)
- Japan Machine Orders (YoY) Nov: 1.2% (exp 6.3% prev 10.3%)
- Bank of Korea Keeps Its Base Rate On Hold At 1.50% As Expected
- Bank Indonesia Seen Edging Toward Rate Cut — WSJ
- PBoC Fixes Yuan Reference Rate At 6.5616 (prev 6.5630)
- Yuan Is Unlikely To Keep Falling Sharply — Securities Journal
- BoJ Gov Kuroda: Japan's Price Trend Is Improving
- Kuroda: This Year Critical To Judge If Virtuous Cycle Continues
Markets Update:
Risk sentiment took a turn for the worse overnight. After US stock indices fell sharply yesterday, the major Asian stock markets also declined, with the Nikkei falling as much as 4.50 % on the day.
The focus is again on oil as Brent fell below $30. WTI is doing slightly better, as it is still holding above $30, but it remains under pressure overall. The decline in oil prices pushed USD/CAD to fresh multi-year highs in Asia. The pair reached a high of 1.4382 and there seems to be little tech resistance until 1.45.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY had a sharp reversal. After reaching a high of 118.40 in yesterday's NY session, the pair came under pressure in the early Asian session and eventually fell to a low of 117.30. Support is now seen at 117.00 and 116.70.
Australian employment data beat expectations and the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8 %, but that did not help the Aussie Dollar as the negative sentiment in equity markets weighed on the risk-on currencies as well. AUD/USD fell from 0.6960 to 0.6920 and key support is now seen at 0.6905, the 2015 low.
Upcoming Events:
- 07:00 GMT – German WPI
- 09:00 GMT – Italian Industrial Production
- 12:00 GMT – Bank of England Rate Decision
- 12:00 GMT – Bank of England Meeting Minutes
- 12:30 GMT – ECB meeting Minutes
- 13:30 GMT – US Initial Jobless Claims
